Three games into a Premier League season is far too early to decide who will win the title. It is not too early, however, to notice when the champions look as though they have picked up exactly where they left off. Arsenal have nine points from nine, and Sunday's 2-1 win over Chelsea was the first time this season that Mikel Arteta's side were asked a genuinely difficult question. Their answer was probably the most encouraging part of their perfect start.
Chelsea scored after only 77 seconds at the Emirates, Morgan Rogers volleying them ahead against the club that had spent much of the summer trying to sign him. There was an obvious storyline available from that moment. Arsenal had chased Rogers, failed to get him and eventually finished the transfer window without the elite attacking addition Arteta had wanted. Less than two minutes into their first major test of the season, one of the players they could not sign had put them behind. Instead of allowing the game to follow that script, Arsenal spent most of the next half-hour tearing it up.
The response was ferocious. Arsenal pushed Chelsea backwards, moved the ball quickly and repeatedly found ways into dangerous areas, producing 10 attempts in the opening 30 minutes. Kai Havertz equalised midway through the first half and Martin Ødegaard completed the comeback five minutes after the break, finishing a move made possible by a clever Havertz dummy. Chelsea had their moments — Pedro Neto hit the post and David Raya had to make an important late save from Estêvão — but Arsenal never looked like a team surprised by the challenge. They looked like a team that expected to solve it.
That distinction matters. Arsenal won the Premier League last season and reached the Champions League final, so there is no longer much value in asking whether they are capable of competing with the best teams. We already know the answer. The more interesting question this season is whether they can become more complete, and the early evidence suggests they might have done so without making the glamorous attacking signing many expected during the summer.
Arteta wanted another elite forward. Arsenal explored moves for Julian Alvarez, Vinícius Júnior and Rogers, but none arrived. Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Jesus were among the senior attacking players to leave, creating understandable questions about whether the champions had actually weakened the area of the squad that seemed most in need of reinforcement. Three matches do not make those concerns disappear, but Arsenal have already offered a fairly convincing response on the pitch.
Havertz is central to it. His Arsenal career has gone through enough reinventions that it is easy to forget how effective he has become in Arteta's system, but against Chelsea he showed why the manager continues to trust him. The goal mattered, obviously, but so did his involvement in Ødegaard's winner. He did not touch Christos Tzolis' pass; he simply understood where it was going and what would happen if he left it alone. Ødegaard understood it too. A complicated attacking situation became simple because two players saw the same picture.
Ødegaard's start to the season is another reason Arsenal feel different. Injuries disrupted him last year, but he looks sharper and more influential again, with three goals already this season. Bukayo Saka also appears refreshed after the physical strain of recent campaigns. Arsenal have spent years depending heavily on those two to provide imagination around the penalty area. When both are fit and playing with freedom, the entire attack changes shape.
There is more variety elsewhere. Riccardo Calafiori gives Arsenal another route to progress the ball and another physical presence, while Declan Rice remains capable of controlling games without reducing their tempo. Raya continues to make the saves Arsenal need when opponents eventually break through. Set pieces remain a major weapon, but they no longer feel like something Arsenal need to rely upon when open play becomes difficult. Against Chelsea, the most impressive spell came through speed, movement and sustained attacking pressure rather than corners and free-kicks.
That is perhaps the biggest reason this start feels significant. Last season proved Arsenal could win the league. The challenge now is avoiding the stagnation that can follow success. Opponents have had years to study Arteta's structure, understand Arsenal's pressing triggers and prepare for their set pieces. Standing still is usually enough to become easier to play against, even when the players themselves remain excellent. The champions therefore needed evolution more than reinvention, and so far that is what they appear to have found.
Chelsea provided a useful test because Xabi Alonso's side are not short of ambition themselves. They arrived at the Emirates unbeaten and took the lead almost immediately, yet Arsenal were able to raise the intensity of the game to a level Chelsea struggled to contain. There are still obvious problems for Alonso to solve, particularly defensively, but this was not a poor Chelsea side being routinely dispatched. It was a strong opponent giving Arsenal a bad start and discovering that the champions had several different ways to recover.
The fixtures will become harder and the season will inevitably become messier. Arsenal still have questions over attacking depth, and an injury to one or two important players could make the failure to add another elite forward look much more significant than it does today. Manchester City are also perfect after three matches, so there is no suggestion that Arsenal are about to walk away with another title in September.
But champions are supposed to improve because everyone else spends the summer trying to catch them. Arsenal's first three matches have offered signs that they understood that. They have won comfortably, they have won differently and now they have come from behind to beat one of the strongest teams in the league. Chelsea gave them the first serious examination of their title defence. Arsenal looked ready for it.
Published by Patrick Jane
07.09.2026